Water heater



March 23 1926. 1,577,863

A. J. KERCHER WATER HEATER Filed March 26. 1923 FIE! E f6? ,4free/Veys.

Patented Mar, Z3, i926.

.ARTHURJI KERCHER, GF BERKELEY, CAL'i-ORNA.

WATER HEATER.

application filed March 26, 19213.

T 0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, ARTHUR il. lnnciinn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident ot the city orP Berkeley, in the county ot' ilameda and State of California, have invented a` neuT and useful lllater Heater, et which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a. system for heating Water, and more especially to a system adaptedtor domestic use, and incorporating a tank in connection with a gas burner or an electrical heating element or the like.

In suchsystems it is common to provide for an automatic temperature control, so that When the AWater reaches a certain temperature, the heating element is rendered inactive.' Asordinarily installed, systems ot this character act toy bring,` all the Water to the desired temperature betere the temperature vcontrol operates. lt very o'lten happens however, that only a relatively small amount of stored heated Water is necessary. For example it may he that substantially during' the` entireday, hot Water is needed merely lior. Washing dishes or for Washing' the 'face land hands occasionally. Gn the other hand, in the morning it vmay he advisable to have a largequantity ol hot Water on hand so that a hath may be taken. @n occasional days, a large quantity may be neededgfor the laundry'throughout a large portion of the day. 4lllllith prior systems hovfever, it has heen impossible to vary the quantity of Water which is maintained het by the heater.` Thus a great Waste in heat energy results, since the thermal control does not :Function until all ot the Water in the tank is atvthe desired temperature, irrespective ot the amount which is actually needed.

It is One ot t-he objects ot my invention to make it possible to maintain only n, traction of the Water in the tank at the de ired temperature, Whenever the demand loiv.

It is a matter ot common oliserwiuce, in connection with Water -lieatei-s, that the Water inr a tank does not heat uniformly, but instead, hot Water collects lirst at the top, and gradually extends clear to the bottom of the tank it the heating' is sull'lciently prolonged. lilith my inven in it is possible to set a limiten the an'iount et hot Water which collects the top olf the tank. Stated in another Way, therefore, an ohject ot my invention is to provide a variable Serial No. 627,562.

limit to the amount ot hot Water that collects at the top et the tank.

ln order to secure this result, l employ al valve device that may be operated at will to permit circulation ot any desired amount of Water at the top olf the tank, through the heater. lt is thus another object ot my invention to provide a valve that controls the portion of the volume of the tank which is placed in circulating relationship with the heater.

My invention possesses other advantageous features, some of which with the toregoing?,` Will be set forth at length in the tollotving description, Where l shall outline in full that 'form ot the invention Which l have selected for illustration in the drawings accompanying and forming part ot the present specification. Although I have shown but one embodiment of my invention in the drawings, l do not desire to be limited thereto, since the invention as expressed in the claim may be embodied in other forms also.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is a diagrammatic elevation of a water heat-ing` system embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a view taken from the section plane 2-2 of Fig. l, and illustrating the manner o'l adjustment of the tank volume that is placed in circulating relation with the heater;

Figure 3 is elevation ot the valve structure on an enlarged scale, and

Figures l, 5, and 6 are sectional views along the planes 4 4, 5 5, and (l (l ot Fig. 3, and illustrate the operation ot' the alve.

ln Figure l l have for the sake olf convenience shown a conventional Water tank ll having thel usual inlet pipe 12 and the outlet pipe 1S. @it course other types of tanks may he used. The inlet pipe l2 is adapted 'l o be connected to any appropriate, source ot water supply, While the outlet pipe i3 may lead to any desired points ot distribution tor the. hot Water. The inlet pipe l2 as is customaryv may extend troni the top ot tank ll down to nearly the bottom so that cold Water Will be introduced at this latter point.

A heater lil, shoivn as electrically operated, is connected tol the tank il so as to heat the Water from the tank. ln electrical heating element l5 is diagranunatically lfltl shown in connection with heater 14, and is adapted to be supplied from any appropriate source of electrical energy, as by the leads 16. A thermostat 17 is arranged to control the heating so that the heating circuit is interrupted at a predetermined high temperature attained by the water circulating through heater 14, and is closed again at a. predetermined low temperature. The heater 14 is connected by pipe 18 to the top of tank 11, and the other side of the heater is connected, as by pipe 1), to an adjustable limit valve 20.

This valve is so arranged that it may conneet the heater 14 to the interior of the tank at a point relatively near the top of tank 11, or optionally at other points at varying distances from the top. Thus for example if the valve 20 is so adjusted that the heater pipe 19 is in communication with the tank 11 at a point say one third of the total length of the tank from the top, then substantially only the water in the top third of the tank will circulate through the heater 14, and only that amount of water willbe heated to the desired temperature. On the other hand, by adjusting the valve 2() so that the heater pipe 19 is in communication with a lower point of the tank 11, a proportionately greater portion of the water in tank 11 will be maintained at the desired temperature by the thermostat control. The valve 2O may finally be so adjusted that the pipe 19 is placed in communication with the bottom of tank 11, and substantailly all of the water will be maintained at the desired temperature. In this way it is possible to maintain only that amount of water heated which is needed, and there is no substantial waste of energy due to unnecessary heating of a larger amount of water.

Although the valve 2O may take many optional forms while still 'performing its desired function, I prefer to employ the t'orm shown, because it is simple and inexpensive to manufacture. It comprises a tube 21 that may be fastened into the bottom of tank 11 and that extends upward Atoward the top of the tank. This tube is closed at the top by a plug 22 as shown in Fig. 3, and at the bottom itccmmunicates with pipe 19, as by the aid of the T fitting 23. A plurality of apertures 24, 25, and 26 are cutin the tube 21 at varying levels or heights. It is evident that by closing all apertures except one, an amount of water -Will circulate through the heater 14 which corresponds to the volume of the portion of the tank between the open aperture and the top of the tank. Thus if aperture 24 is open and the others closed, about one third of the water in tank 11 will circulate through the heater 14, and if one of the lower apertures or 26 is open, then proportionately more water will circulate. The

direction of circulation is indicated by the arrows 40, and the circulation may be traced from the tank 11, through .pipe vv21, to heater 14, back to tank 11 via pipe 18.

To control the opening and closing of apertures r24, 25, and 26 in a simple and convenient manner, I provide a rotatable sleeve valve 27, in this instance located within the tube 21 and having a rotatable fit therein. This sleeve valve 27 has a series of openinvs 2-8, 29 and 30 which are adapted to e brought into registry respectively with apertures 24, 25 and 26. It may be noted also, that these apertures may be multiplied so that at any given level more than one opening may be located. This is clearly shown in the sectional views, Figures 4, 5 and '6, in which a pair of openings are indicated for each level, arranged diametrically opposite to each other in the tube 21.

rIhe `apertures 24, 25, and 26 are so l0- cated angular-ly with respect to the valve openings 28, 29, and 30 that by rotating the sleeve member 27 any one set of them may be opened while the others are ykept closed. For rotating the sleeve valve 27 in `relation to the tube 21, a handle 31 may be provided, which is mechanically connected to the bottom of the sleeve 27, as by the laid 'of 'the rod or shaft 32. This shaft is journaled i'n one of the branches of the T fitting 23, und extends downwardly exteriorly of tank, so as to offer a. projection 33 to which the lhandle 31 may connect. A pin 34 is used to fsecure the shaft 32 to the sleeve 27.

In order to guide the manipulator to erform the proper' setting of the sleeve 2 I preferably provide a segment 35, shown most clearly in Fig. 2, along which indicia 36 are marked for cooperating with 'the projecting grip 37 of the handle 31, and for indicating which of the apertures 24, 25 and 26 is open. Thus 'in the position illustrated, the aperture 25 is open, and apertures 24 and 26 are closed. Therefore the Water in the top two thirds only of the tank 11 will be heated. By moving the handle 31 to the right, aperture 25 will be closed and aperture 24 opened, and the water in the top one third only will be heated. By moving the handle 31 to the left, aperture 26 will be ope-n and the others closed, and substantiall'v all of the water inthe tank Will lbe heated. Stops 38 formed on the segment 35 may be provided to limit the throw o'f sleeve 27. This segment may be supported in any appropriate manner; inthe present instance it is shown as fastened to ythe bottom of the T connection 23 as by the aid of nut 39.

Although in the present insta-.nce onlj three sets of openings 24, 25, and 26 are shown, it is evident that any desired nurnber may be provided, whereby the amount of water heated ma be regulated by 'as small steps as desire I claim:

In combination, a tank for holding a liquid, an inlet pipe extending through the top of the tank and nearly to the bottom thereof, an outlet pipe connected to the top of the tank, a heater, a pipe from the top of the tank to the top of the heater, a tubular member extending through the bottom ot the tank, up toward the top thereof, said member having a. plurality of apertures at dierent levels eominunieatii'lg with the interior of the tank, a, T Connection at the bottom of the member, a pipe between the connection and `the bottom or" the heater, a thermostat associated with the heater to maintain the temperature of the liquid eireulating therethrough between predetermined limits, a rotatable sleeve Within the tubular member and having apertures capable of alinement with those in the member, said apertures being` so arranged that any one set may be alined rotatably by adjusting,` the sleeve, a shaft connected to the sleeve and extending through the Connection, a4 handle attached to the shaft, a segment c0- operating,` With the handle to indicate which oi the apertures are alined as regards their location below the top of the tank, and means for fastening the segment to the T eonneetion.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto Set my hand.

ARTHUR J. KERCHER. 

